Back to Basics
by jdawg27942
Summary: A champion of the battle frontier decides he is tired of his job and goes back to training. Upon doing so, he finds that training is more challenging than he remembered. Jason must get back to the basics.


"Screw it, use Tri-Attack" called Jason. The Porygon-Z fired a red sphere, a yellow sphere, and a blue sphere at the Mamoswine.

"Mamo" It called out as it fell over and fainted. The small, sandy-haired challenger returned his Mamoswine to its pokeball. Jason reached out to shake the challenger's hand.

"Good job." He said. "You're one of the strongest people I've battled in awhile." The challenger smiled, thanked Jason, then left on his Charizard. Jason pulled out his communicator and called Scott. "Hey, can I have a leave of absence?" he asked.

"No!" said Scott. "You're the frontier champion. We need you." Jason cleared his throat.

"Brandon does it."

"Brandon does research"

"I can call it research if you'd like"

"No!"

"Yes"

"No!"

"Fine," Said Jason. "No leave of absence then. The next morning, when Scott walked into his office, there was a handwritten note that read 'I quit. I'll be back in a little while to reclaim my spot. –Jason'

Back to Basics

By JB Morgan

Chapter 1

"Brighter than a shooting star, so shine no matter where you are, tonight!" Jason sang as he rode on his Salamence's back. "Saaall" it grumbled. "My singing isn't that bad, is it? Fine I'll stop." Jason was still trying to piece together in his head the order he would take the gyms on in. While there was a common order most trainers took, he knew that gym leaders would use different pokemon based on how many badges you had. Looking at a map of Hoenn, Jason's route seemed pretty flexible. Dewford was a little out of the way, but other than that, he could be a little creative with his order. Starting on the West coast of Hoenn would be better. To get to the Mosdeep and Sotopolis gyms would be harder, and Jason would do those later on. Regardless of where he started, Jason was stopping in Mauville City for the night. He needed a pokemon to start his new team. Jason slid into Mauville around 1:30, and had a late lunch before going shopping. He needed some supplies for traveling. First Jason went to a mall and bought about three pairs of jeans. He knew from his original journey in Sinoh that jeans were the best piece of clothing that a trainer could have. Jason also bought matches, a flashlight, a new backpack, 3 T-Shirts, a hoodie, a can opener, some canned food, several pokeballs, a sleeping bag, and a knife. He had various other items he would need. Around 4:00, Jason met up with a breeder acquaintance of his, Jude. Jason had asked not to know the identity of his new pokemon, and after Jude left, Jason released his new pokemon in the middle of the Mauville park. A small, sword-like pokemon emerged. "Honedge" it said. "Hell yes Jude," Said Jason. This was one sweet pokemon. "I'm gonna name you Excalibur" he said after some thought. "Like King Arthur." The pokemon seemed happy enough with it, so when Jason registered it in his pokedex, he put the nickname in as Excalibur. Since Jason had asked for the pokemon to have at least a little experience, Excalibur wouldn't be outmatched on the near route. On route 118, they ran into a few Wingull, Electrike, and even a Kecleon. But Jason's heart started beating faster when they battled a certain Linoone. He had come up to challenge them right as Jason was healing Excalibur. There was a certain air about him that Jason could sense. He was a fighter, Jason could tell, and he was looking for a challenge.

"Excalibur, use Swords Dance!" Jason exclaimed. The small sword-like pokemon spun around and then came to rest, now pumped up. Without warning, the wild Linoone fired a Shadow Ball at Excalibur, which he was barely able to dodge. "Use slash!" called Jason, opening his pokedex. All the other Linoone they had fought didn't have any moves that could affect Excalibur. Sure enough, Shadow Ball was a TM move. This Linoone had been owned by another trainer. Excalibur had successfully pulled off the Slash, but was hammered by a Shadow Ball right after. "Get in close and use Slash!" called Jason. "Hon-Edge!" called Excalibur as it attacked. Linoone dodged the attack and started charging up a Shadow Ball. "Quick, dodge using Shadow Sneak" called Jason. As the shadow ball was fired, Excalibur dipped into the shadows and emerged behind Linoone. "Now use slash!" called Jason. The attack hit solid. Before the battle could continue, Jason threw a pokeball at the Linoone. It shook once, twice, then three times. Then Linoone broke out. The battle kept going, and Linoone was smart enough to avoid using Normal Type moves. Every few attempts, the two pokemon would exchange blows. Excalibur was getting tired. Jason tried to think of a way out. He could try to catch it, but it needed to be a little weaker first. "Excalibur, take a hit and use Swords Dance!" called Jason. The shadow ball hit Excalibur as he used Swords Dance. "Now use Slash!" As his pokemon got in close to the Linoone, he saw another Shadow Ball charging up, and threw a pokeball. Then time seemed to slow down.

The Linoone was hit by the Slash

Excalibur got hit by the Shadow Ball and fainted

Linoone smirked

Linoone turned to run, and was encapsulated by the pokeball

The pokeball shook once

The pokeball shook again, and a third time

Then it clicked.

Jason breathed a sigh of relief and returned Excalibur, while picking up his new pokemon's pokeball. Being a trainer was hard. As he headed back to the Pokemon Center he thought "I need to get back to the basics."

A/N: Finally starting on my story. This will be a long-ish one hopefully. I've always loved both pokemon and writing, so this will be fun for me. Also a test of perseverance.

Teaser for next Chapter:

What will Jason name his new pokemon?

What Gym will he challenge first?

What is the past of this Linoone Jason has caught?


End file.
